Emporia State named a Best College for Veterans

Emporia State University has been named to the first Best Colleges for Veterans list by U.S. News & World Report.

“This recognition is especially fitting given our relationship with the city of Emporia, the Founding City of Veterans Day,” said Dr. Michael D. Shonrock, Emporia State president.

U.S. News & World Report is known for gathering data and ranking universities and colleges across the country. Emporia State University is ranked No. 27 on the Midwest Region veterans list. The university qualified for the list by being a “top-ranked schools in the Best Colleges rankings that participate in federal initiatives helping veterans and active service members apply, pay for and complete their degrees,” according to the magazine.

“We want all of our students to fulfill their dreams and be successful,” said Shonrock. “We are honored to work with military service members as they pursue their goals.”

Emporia gained the title of Founding City of Veterans Day through the work of two residents.

In 1953, Emporian Alvin J. King proposed that Armistice Day — celebrated on Nov. 11 — be changed to Veterans Day to recognize and honor all veterans from all wars and conflicts. Veterans Day was first organized and celebrated in Emporia in 1953. Kansas Congressman Ed Rees, also an Emporian, then took King’s proposal to Congress, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower, also of Kansas, signed the bill proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day. The first nationwide observance of Veterans Day was on Nov. 11, 1954.

Emporia State is part of the community’s All Veterans Tribute each year, which recognizes military veterans and their service with a week filled with parades, roundtable discussions, entertainment shows and a 5K run.